ALWAYS REFORMING: A sinner saved by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone adhering to Scripture alone to bring about reform personally, for his family, church, and world to the glory of God alone.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.

Scope out and register for this year's Fellowship of Reformed Churches conference in Fort Worth. (Yours truly will be one of the speakers, but don't let that scare you off.)

This year’s conference will be Saturday, November 17th, from 8:45am-3:45pm at the Leadership Development Center on the campus of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. We will focus on the theme “The Character of God in Everyday Life” and we will be exploring how the character (or attributes) of God are applicable to a variety of “real life” situations. Theology, as we hope to show, is not just for the ivory tower, but immensely practical. (The conference is free, but donations are accepted to help defray costs.)

Read as Steven Levitt addresses the Economics of Gold-Digging. In particular, he shares and comments upon an economic-minded exchange between a potential gold-digger and a potential sugar daddy. You won't be disappointed.

I have to say that the respondent has some pretty sensible economics in his answer. My guess, however, is that with that mindset he probably doesn’t have any more success with ladies than the gold-digging woman does with men. Just as politics often trumps economics when it comes to public policy, rational arguments rarely win the day in dating, love, and marriage.

In a Parade interview, Brad Pitt shares of his youth and even his religious upbringing, that a college girlfriend helped him sort out. I think Pitt mis-understands the biblical God on some level, for he doesn't realize that we are to make much of God and in doing so we experience true joy.

"She helped me more than anyone else as far as setting off in my own direction," he explains. "It was my first year in college and I was pushing back against the religion thing. In my eyes it was a mechanism of guilt , this engrained system, used to keep the flock in servitude." Brad was raised a conservative Southern Baptist. "Guilt is the thing I find most evil about it. It's the thing I rail against the most. She helped me in defining what I believed.

"Religion works," he goes on. "I know there's comfort there, a crash pad. It's something to explain the world and tell you there is something bigger than you, and it is going to be alright in the end. It works because it's comforting. I grew up believing in it, and it worked for me in whatever my little personal high school crisis was, but it didn't last for me. I didn't understand this idea of a God who says, 'You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I'm the best, and then I'll give you eternal happiness. If you won't, then you don't get it!' It seemed to be about ego. I can't see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me."

Read about the Birth of the Simpsons. I remember watching them on the Tracy Ullman show and who could forget Bart saying, "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger"?

It's a moment nearly everyone has experienced. You're contentedly chewing a wad of gum when an unforeseen turn brings about a quick disposal—the hard way. Whether the cause is imminent detection by a high school teacher, a dearth of garbage cans or even an untimely hiccup, you gulp down the rubbery gob whole. It's only then that a refrain from childhood echoes through your mind: "Don't swallow chewing gum—it will stay in your system for seven years!" As the minty mass descends into your digestive abyss, you wonder: "Will I really be part Wrigley for years to come?"

Jay the Bennett issues a challenge to formulate a "world view," but he walks you through the process and give you his as an example.

Read about Noele Kensut's rationale as to why Fred Thompson will win the presidential election in 2008. It might surprise you, but she does have history on her side.

Think a woman will be our next President? or an African-American, or a member of the Mormon Church? Are the American people ready for such a leap? Perhaps, but how about a small leap first, like for example electing a President who does not have blue eyes? Indeed no dark-eyed candidate has won the Presidency since Richard Nixon's re-election 35 years ago. All Presidents since color television has invaded the American home have had blue eyes: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Electoral runner-ups Al Gore, Bob Dole, Mike Dukakis have dark eyes. Walter Mondale and John Kerry have blue eyes, but apparently not blue enough to unseat an incumbent.

Chuck Swindoll uses the analogy of a good diet of food and its relationship to health to explain the importance of a church serving up a good diet in the pulpit.

Let’s apply this to our pulpits. If we feed our congregations the wrong food—spiritually speaking—they will wind up listless, irritable, weak, and lacking inner peace. But if we feed them the right diet of God’s Word and the living water of life, the difference in their spiritual health will be remarkable.

I agree wholeheartedly and this should be a huge priority for pastors/elders and for what one looks for in a church home.

The biggest lesson I learned from that manual is this—we in America need to get a life. We have become the world's leading experts at turning the mundane into the major. We trivialize our lives and we trivialize society. We do it when we allow an iota of brain space to be taken up with the details of the Spears-Federline custody battle. We do it when we give an ordinary case of post-holiday, mid-winter doldrums a name like Seasonal Affective Disorder. When we allow ourselves to classify our daily oral hygiene as "an experience," we are adding to the insanity.

Read the transcript of the most recent GOP debate, the first to include Fred Thompson.

Read about Professor Dan Wallace's Favorite Passage That Is Not in the Bible.

When it comes to the story of the woman caught in adultery or the long ending of Mark, why is it that translators are still hesitant to relegate these verses to the margin? My sense is that there is a tradition of timidity. The problem is that when layfolks learn that these verses are almost surely not authentic, it sends panic through their ranks.

In an interview with OK! Magazine, Lindsay Lohan reflected on her time in rehab: "It was a sobering experience."

Read about this family Bible that was used, not just displayed, a Bible back on U.S. soil after family's 8 tours of duty.

After eight tours of duty with seven family members, the Bible is now in Grand Prairie once again. But this time it's not stored away. By family decision, the Bible has been retired from active duty. "Sixty-four years and five wars have taken its toll on it," Mike said.

Read about the Methodist who "came out" about her homosexuality during the worship service.

An associate pastor says she disclosed her homosexuality during a recent Sunday morning worship service "to share with the congregation part of my faith journey and how I've experienced God's grace."

The Rev. Kathleen Weber shared her story during the Sept. 30 service at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church, where she has been on staff the past four years. She is a commissioned candidate for ministry in The United Methodist Church and is on track to be ordained next year.